Secretary of Geology, Mining and Mineral Transformation receives President of Centrorochas

During an agenda held in Brasília, on Wednesday (05/11), the president of Centrorochas, Tales Machado, and the chief of staff of the federal deputy, Evair de Melo, Marcelo Araújo, were received by the secretary of Geology, Mining and Transformation Mineral from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (SGM/MME), Pedro Paulo Dias, in his office.

At the meeting, Tales Machado outlined a brief overview of the Brazilian stone sector, which, in 2021, broke an all-time record for exports. The segment earned US$1.34 billion with the shipment of 2.4 million tons of materials to 132 countries across five continents, registering growth of 35.5% compared to 2020. The sector also had a notable participation in Coverings 2022 , the largest and most traditional North American fair in the coatings segment, having registered the largest area occupied by the national sector, considering all editions of the fair. The event took place between the 5th and 8th of April. Seventy-three companies from the national segment participated in the Brazilian Pavilion organized by It’s Natural – Brazilian Natural Stone, a sectorial project to support and develop exports in the sector, managed by Centrorochas in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).

The president of the national organization of the stone sector took the opportunity to invite the secretary to visit companies in the sector. Admired by the numbers, the secretary accepted the invitation and was eager for the opportunity to get to know the stone sector up close.

National sector bottlenecks

Accompanied by businessman and president of Sindirochas, Ed Martins; the executive director of Centrorochas and Sindirochas, Celmo de Freitas; and the legal adviser, Victor Athayde, Tales Machado also requested the secretary’s support in important matters for the national stone sector. Three items in particular were cited in a document jointly signed by Centrorochas and Sindirochas and filed at the secretariat: usurpation, CFEM (Financial Compensation for the Exploitation of Mineral Resources) and a User Guide (GU).

“If it weren’t for the usage guide, Brazil wouldn’t be the 5th largest producer and exporter of ornamental stones. There have been great advances, but the adopted model needs to evolve”, explained Tales Machado during the meeting. “The mismatch between the deadline for obtaining a mining ordinance and the limitations that are being imposed for issuing only two Usage Guides could lead to a collapse in the ornamental stone sector”, he warned, referring to the restriction created allowing the issuance of only two GU within the same mining process.

Sindirochas’ legal advisor, Victor Athayde, explained that since June 2018, when the new regulation to the Mining Code was published, this restriction was created. “With it, if a guide was originally issued for two years, the next one would be limited to this same period. That is, the miner would only have four years to operate his mine, before the mining ordinance is issued. This period that practice has shown to be insufficient”, he added. Secretary Pedro Paulo Dias made himself available to evaluate the claim and made his technical team available to seek advances as quickly as possible.

Also participating in the agenda: Lilia Mascarenhas Sant’Agostinho (SGM/MME assistant secretary); Glauber Rocha (DPGM SGM/MME director); Frederico Bedran (DPGM SGM/MME director); Enir Mendes (DPGM SGM/MME director); Dione Macedo (DDSM SGM/MME Deputy Director); and Rosa Oliveira (Aspar/MME parliamentary advisor).